Cultural Calendars and You

Parties are fun. SmallBox likes to have fun and we want other companies to be having fun, too – so we should be having a lot more parties, right? At our most recent ‘Box Lunch, Jeb shared our inside scoop: people like to do fun things at work with their colleagues. It’s true!

We shared our internal cultural calendar and encouraged guests to create their own. At our core, we believe creating a great employee experience is key to serving our customers. The idea of Culture-Powered Marketing is pretty simple – happy employees lead to great customer experiences, which then lead to brand ambassadors. Of course it really isn’t that easy, but a cultural calendar is a basic building block. Doing fun things throughout the year to bolster positivity, celebrate wins, give back to the community, and promote great employee experiences sets a good foundation.

A cultural calendar can be challenging when you think about it. Activities need to fit the pulse and rhythm of your business and if done right, will build additional meaning each year. These activities should also have variety and be diverse enough to fit every type of personality. And one of the hardest parts is changing it up and retooling events so they remain relevant and fresh, as well as knowing when to drop something that just isn’t working anymore.

Sometimes events are based around a holiday or season (who doesn’t love a great Thanksgiving gathering or summer BBQ celebration), while others may have a special meaning to your company, like an anniversary or birthday. These are easy to remember and can form the basis of your calendar. Every cultural calendar should have at least three time frames – week, month, and year. We brainstormed some ideas as a group and came up with a great list for each time frame:

Of course, don’t dismiss the opportunity for pop-up or surprise parties (those are some of the best!). For instance, during Indianapolis's recent heat-wave (the thermometer said 50!), Jeb jumped on the chance to fire up the grill and we hosted a “Winter’s Over” BBQ. It was super easy to get going and a group of clients who were visiting got to join in the fun. Unfortunately, we mocked winter and karma got us in the end, but it was worth it despite the return of frigid temperatures!

In addition to creating great experiences for your employees, these special occasions are ripe with content for your blog and social accounts. So, be sure to take photos to share. Click here for a blank Cultural Calendar, and start planning activities for your team!